Entrepreneurs realize one fact. No body else gives a shit about their business. The government loons say they do but would be happy to tax you out of existance to throw money down the endless entitlement rathole. Your customers say they do but if they can get it cheaper or better somewhere else well later for you loser. Your suppliers say they do but if you can't pay your bills they will sue you at the drop of a hat.

So as an Entrepreneurs, ya gotta do what you gotta do. No one else gives a shit. Break the rules if you have to. Don't wait for anyone else's permission. This ain't school where you have to raise your hand if you need to take a leak. This is the real world.

Segways are the ultimate conspicuous consumption item. They win this contest because the have NO value at all except to show off that you once had $$ to throw away. This may not have been good market timing for Segway Entrepreneurs since now even rich people suddenly feel poor. Their best hope is to be approved for a medically necessary Medicaid scooter [Medicaid has NO problem with throwing away money] for use by people who are too sick/fat to walk into Walmart, but cannot be expected to sit down because of hemorhoids.

"Somebody asked the question, 'Wouldn't it be neat if I could buy lettuce online and they'll deliver lettuce to my house?'"

For a raw commodity product? Huh??

Look, people are willing to get pizza, subs, chinese, whatever delivered because they're willing to deal with the fact that part of what influences the quality of what they get is outside their range of influence. You don't get to make the pizza yourself if you were a dine-in customer at a restaurant either, so the act of delivery doesn't change what you think of the product. You simply shift your judgement of quality in other directions.

But for raw produce? Since when do you want to leave the judging of quality in someone else's hands for that? Ditto raw just about everything else? Someone who eats only Chef Boyardee or Swanson dinners might be willing to take a chance on delivery, but someone who cooks?

I think this was less "Wouldn't it be cool if I could get lettuce delivered" and more "Let's find a way to market lettuce online". The allure of "internet marketing" a product obscured the otherwise commonsensical issue of whether the product was considered a deliverable commodity or not.

Good grief, Professor! Are you trying to match Professor Reynolds post for post today?

Juvenile delinquents are high energy and looking for something new to do, always stretching their boundaries to see what they can get away with. Sounds to me like we should start business classes in Head Start (or whatever it's called these days) programs.

I've been to a number of large convention halls over the last few years, and I noticed the staff zipping from one end of the convention hall to the other on their Segways. For a modest investment, these large venues improved the productivity of each worker by several times over. I was amazed at how effective they were and the cost savings and productivity gains to the venue are obvious. I recall remarking on that at the time at the Orlando Convention Center in particular, which is vast.

They are invaluable for security guards in certain contexts, too, when there is a need to mass strength quickly in a short time from all over, say, a mall, or amusement park.

Those Segways will get a venue much better coverage with fewer people. Those things are a fantastic investment.

"Entrepreneurs tend to have a singular weakness that allows them to do things without checking their conscience," Zaleznik said. "Juvenile delinquents act and then try to sort things out afterward. I think entrepreneurs have this tendency."

Another academic researcher on the topic, professor Kelly Shaver of the College of William & Mary, told Forbes magazine in 2002 that successful entrepreneurs "really don't care as much" about what other people think. "They're just happy to go ahead and do what they're doing."

Let me get this straight: entrepreneurs are bad people because they ignore the voice inside them . . . and they are bad people because they do what they want and ignore what other people think? Which is it?

Make up your minds, you stupid professors. Now, professors, there's a crowd of sociopaths. They do whatever they want, and don't care what society thinks of them (only what other professors think/say about them).

Heck, professors are out to get famous by proving everyone else to be wrong. How much more anti-social can you get?

Thank you Jason. You are right, Segways have a niche market that they have filled. What now? Maybe new and improved models. Yes Segways do serve well on open flat floors of several hundred feet in length or more. My bad.

Let me get this straight: entrepreneurs are bad people because they ignore the voice inside them

He's not passing a value judgment. I've started and run my own business and I know whereof he speaks. You have to have a certain recklessness to start your own business. I've also observed that the outrageously successful entrepreneur is almost always very good at manipulating the truth. This doesn't always mean they are good liars. I once sat in a meeting with a boss who never once told an actual lie, but the combination of everything he said was complete bunk (with the irony being that the rich guy we were talking to was so gullible, my boss could have said just about anything.)

It's just shallow and reductive to look at an entrepreneur and see a delinquent. I've been working on a new business for almost a year, and what gets me over the obstacles is vision and determination, not poor impulse control.

One way to understand the entrepreneurial mindset is to look at the many examples of entrepreneurs who, once their dream took its commercial shape as a publicly traded company, rankled under the obligations of dealing with boardmembers, shareholders, and various company officers in a traditional corporate structure. Many cash out and quit in exasperation (or are driven out, as Steve Jobs was in his original stint with Apple). Maintaining a company is simply not as fun as creating one.

Segways are great and all, but can't a bicycle do the same job for about one tenth the cost?

I agree, Segways are great - took a tour of DC and it was a lot of fun. One of the differences is you can ride them on the side walk. After using them for a night, I found any further walking that trip to be way slow. I wanted to zip along.

It would seem to me that the entrepreneur has a far higher stake in delivering a good product or service to his customers than the average citizen, whose bad behavior risks little. Going the delinquent route, short changing his customer, is a sure recipe for going out of business.

Actually, I could really use a Segway. It would probably be perfect for me as a way to get to work (a distance of just over a mile). Reasons why it would be better for me than a bike:

1. Easier to dress for work & not get clothes messed up.2. Avoiding the dangers of falling and sharing the road with cars.3. I don't want to make the physical effort -- especially at the end of the day when I'm hungry.4. No messing with chains and bulky locks (but how do you keep people from stealing it?).

The main downsides are obvious:1. It's expensive.2. You look silly on it. (If they had caught on, I would have gotten one.)

Regarding "on open flat floors of several hundred feet in length or more": Actually there are Segway models with extra-large knobby tires, and carrier racks, which were clearly designed (and I've seen used) as golf-cart replacements. Admittedly, not on the hilliest of courses, but hardly flat ground.

Regarding Zaleznik's thesis: It's crystal clear he's never worked in a startup. Heck, he's probably never worked outside of the Harvard-MIT hothouse.The founders I've worked for were usually deeply worried about the consequences of their actions, for their companies, their personal pocketbooks, and their slaving-away staffs. It was the experienced corporate types brought in to impress 2nd-round investors who were the ones lacking consciences.

It would seem to me that the entrepreneur has a far higher stake in delivering a good product or service to his customers than the average citizen, whose bad behavior risks little. Going the delinquent route, short changing his customer, is a sure recipe for going out of business.

Agreed. At least that's how I felt for the 15 years I owned a business. There's a real life/built in accountability. It certainly helped me raise my game.

The thing won't need service. It's all super high tech. Encased motor and what not.

When you leave a Segway, you take the "key" which contains a radio-chip thingie. No one can drive off with it. It's disabled. Someone could carry it away, unless you lock it, or take its handlebars.

Another downside: If you strike a hidden object, say, a rod project a few inches out of the ground, the Segway will stop. You, however, will not. You will continue moving at 5, 10, 12 miles an hour. This will hurt.

They are cool to ride, though. Like having your own robot pony that understands you and eats digital carrots. And they come with panniers for carrying grociers or dorky nerd stuff.

This guy has it exactly backwards. Peter Drucker, who'd actually studied entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, talks about this perception. Good entrepreneurs tend to be more risk-averse than most people, not less. They see less risk in doing things a better way than the old way and they are constantly working to make sure that they are minimizing the risks that they face. This is just ridiculous.

You just need the right amount (i.e. lack) of mass to go along with it. I got way too much enjoyment out of a Honda XL125S when I lived in Sudan--on dirt "roads" only, of course, but on the main ones if they were recently graded you could easily make 55+mph without scaring yourself.